List of languages by total number of speakers: Difference between revisions
Undid revision 1217543881 by 88.239.137.159 (talk) |
No edit summary Tags: Manual revert Reverted |
||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|None}} |
{{Short description|None}} |
||
{{For| |
{{For|languages by only native speakers|List of languages by number of native speakers}} |
||
{{Multiple issues| |
|||
[[File:Primary Human Languages Improved Version.png|upright=1.5|thumb|Principal [[List of language families|language families]] of the world (and in some cases geographic groups of families). For greater detail, see ''[[:Template:Distribution of languages in the world|Distribution of languages in the world]]''.]] |
|||
{{Primary sources|date=June 2019}} |
|||
{{Tone|date=March 2020}} |
|||
}} |
|||
This is a '''list of languages by total number of speakers'''. |
This is a '''list of languages by total number of speakers'''. |
||
It is difficult to define what constitutes a [[language]] as opposed to a [[dialect]]. For example, [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Arabic]] are sometimes considered single languages, but each includes several [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually unintelligible]] [[Variety (linguistics)|varieties]] |
It is difficult to define what constitutes a [[language]] as opposed to a [[dialect]]. For example, [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Arabic]] are sometimes considered to be single languages, but each includes several [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually unintelligible]] [[Variety (linguistics)|varieties]] and so they are sometimes considered language families instead. Conversely, [[colloquial]] [[Register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] of [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] are almost completely mutually intelligible, and are sometimes classified as one language, [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]], instead of two separate languages. Such rankings should be used with caution, because it is not possible to devise a coherent set of linguistic criteria for distinguishing languages in a [[dialect continuum]].<ref name=Paolillo&Das>{{cite web |
||
|url = https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/evaluating-language-statistics-the-ethnologue-and-beyond-en_0.pdf |
|url = https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/evaluating-language-statistics-the-ethnologue-and-beyond-en_0.pdf |
||
|title = Evaluating language statistics: the Ethnologue and beyond |
|title = Evaluating language statistics: the Ethnologue and beyond |
||
Line 13: | Line 16: | ||
}}</ref> |
}}</ref> |
||
There is no single criterion for how much knowledge is sufficient to be counted as a [[Second language|second-language]] speaker. For example, English has about 450 million native speakers but, depending on the criterion chosen, can be said to have as many as |
There is no single criterion for how much knowledge is sufficient to be counted as a [[Second language|second-language]] speaker. For example, English has about 450 million native speakers but, depending on the criterion chosen, can be said to have as many as 2 billion speakers.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Two thousand million?|last = Crystal|first = David|date = March 2008|journal = English Today|volume = 24|pages = 3–6|doi = 10.1017/S0266078408000023|s2cid = 145597019|doi-access = free}}</ref> |
||
There are also difficulties in obtaining reliable counts of speakers, which vary over time because of population change and [[language shift]]. In some areas, there is no reliable [[census]] data, the data is not current, or the census may not record languages spoken, or record them ambiguously. Sometimes speaker populations are exaggerated for political reasons, or speakers of minority languages may be |
There are also difficulties in obtaining reliable counts of speakers, which vary over time because of population change and [[language shift]]. In some areas, there is no reliable [[census]] data, the data is not current, or the census may not record languages spoken, or record them ambiguously. Sometimes speaker populations are exaggerated for political reasons, or speakers of minority languages may be under-reported in favor of a national language.<ref>{{cite book |
||
| title = The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language |
| title = The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language |
||
| url = https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencycl000crys |
| url = https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencycl000crys |
||
| url-access = registration |
| url-access = registration |
||
| given = David | surname = Crystal | author-link = David Crystal |
| given = David | surname = Crystal | author-link = David Crystal |
||
| publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1988 |
|||
| isbn = 978-0-521-26438-9 |
| isbn = 978-0-521-26438-9 |
||
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencycl000crys/page/286 286–287] |
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencycl000crys/page/286 286–287] |
||
}}</ref> |
}}</ref> |
||
==Top languages by population== |
|||
==''Ethnologue'' (2023)== |
|||
===''Ethnologue'' (2022, 25th edition)=== |
|||
The following languages are listed as having 45 million or more total speakers in the 26th edition of ''[[Ethnologue]]'' published in 2023.<ref name=e26>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/insights/ethnologue200/|title=What are the top 200 most spoken languages?|website=Ethnologue|date=2023|access-date=2023-08-25}}</ref> This section does not include entries that ''Ethnologue'' identifies as [[ISO 639 macrolanguage|macrolanguages]] encompassing all their respective [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]], such as [[Arabic]], [[Lahnda]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Malay language|Malay]], [[Pashto]], and [[Chinese language|Chinese]]. |
|||
The following languages are listed as having 40 million or more total speakers in the 2022 edition of ''[[Ethnologue]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/insights/ethnologue200/|title=What are the top 200 most spoken languages?|website=Ethnologue|date=2022|access-date=2023-02-22}}</ref> Entries identified by ''Ethnologue'' as [[ISO 639 macrolanguage|macrolanguages]] (such as [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Malay language|Malay]], [[Pashto language|Pashto]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]) are not included in this section. |
|||
{{Static row numbers}} |
|||
{{static row numbers}} |
|||
{| class="static-row-numbers sortable wikitable" |
{| class="static-row-numbers sortable wikitable" |
||
|+ Most spoken languages, ''Ethnologue'', 2023<ref name=e26/> |
|||
|-class=static-row-header |
|||
! Language |
! Language |
||
! [[Language family|Family]] |
! [[Language family|Family]] |
||
Line 41: | Line 43: | ||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] |
| [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 372.9 million |
||
| style=text-align:right data-sort-value=" |
| style=text-align:right data-sort-value="1080 million" ! | 1.080 billion<ref>{{e25|eng|English}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right data-sort-value=" |
| style=text-align:right data-sort-value="1452.0 million" ! | 1.452 billion |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[Mandarin Chinese]]<br>(incl. [[Standard Chinese]], but excl. [[Varieties of Chinese|other varieties]]) |
| [[Mandarin Chinese]]<br>(incl. [[Standard Chinese]], but excl. [[Varieties of Chinese|other varieties]]) |
||
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
||
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 929.0 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 198.7 million<ref>{{e25|cmn|Chinese, Mandarin}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right data-sort-value=" |
| style=text-align:right data-sort-value="1118.0 million" ! | 1.118 billion |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:hin|Hindi]]<br>(excl. [[Urdu]]) |
| [[ISO 639:hin|Hindi]]<br>(excl. [[Urdu]], and [[Hindi Belt|other languages]]) |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 343.9 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 258.3 million<ref>{{e25|hin|Hindi}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 602.2 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:spa|Spanish]] |
| [[ISO 639:spa|Spanish]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Romance languages|Romance]] |
| [[Romance languages|Romance]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 474.7 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 73.6 million<ref>{{e25|spa|Spanish}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 548.3 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:fra|French]] |
| [[ISO 639:fra|French]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Romance languages|Romance]] |
| [[Romance languages|Romance]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 79.9 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 194.2 million<ref>{{e25|fra|French}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 274.1 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:arb|Modern Standard Arabic]]<br>(excl. [[Varieties of Arabic|dialects]]) |
| [[ISO 639:arb|Modern Standard Arabic]]<br>(excl. [[Varieties of Arabic|dialects]]) |
||
| [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
| [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
||
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | 0{{efn|[[Modern Standard Arabic]] (MSA) is not an L1. Arabic speakers first learn their respective local [[Varieties of Arabic|dialect]]. MSA is acquired through formal education.<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 0{{efn|[[Modern Standard Arabic]] (MSA) is not an L1. Arabic speakers first learn their respective local [[Varieties of Arabic|dialect]]. MSA is acquired through formal education.<ref>{{e25|arb}}</ref>}} |
||
| style=text-align:right | 274 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 274.0 million<ref>{{e25|arb}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | 274 million |
| style=text-align:right | 274.0 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:ben|Bengali]] |
| [[ISO 639:ben|Bengali]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 233.7 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 39 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 39.0 million<ref>{{e25|ben|Bengali}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 272.7 million |
||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:por|Portuguese]]<br>(excl. [[Portuguese-based creole languages|creole languages]]) |
|||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
|||
| [[Romance languages|Romance]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 236 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 27 million <ref>{{e26|por|Portuguese}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 264 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:rus|Russian]] |
| [[ISO 639:rus|Russian]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] |
| [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 154.0 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 104.1 million<ref>{{e25|rus|Russian}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 258.2 million |
||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:por|Portuguese]] |
|||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
|||
| [[Romance languages|Romance]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 232.4 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 25.2 million <ref>{{e25|por|Portuguese}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 257.7 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:urd|Urdu]]<br>(excl. [[Hindi]]) |
| [[ISO 639:urd|Urdu]]<br>(excl. [[Hindi]]) |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 70.2 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 161 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 161.0 million<ref>{{e25|urd|Urdu}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 231.3 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:ind|Indonesian]]<br>(excl. |
| [[ISO 639:ind|Indonesian]]<br>(excl. [[Malay language|Malay]]) |
||
| [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] |
| [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] |
||
| [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]] |
| [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 43.6 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 155 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 155.4 million<ref>{{e25|ind|Indonesian}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | 199 million |
| style=text-align:right | 199.0 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:deu|Standard German]] |
| [[ISO 639:deu|Standard German]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] |
| [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | 75 million |
| style=text-align:right | 75.6 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 59.1 million<ref>{{e25|deu|German, Standard}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 134.6 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:jpn|Japanese]] |
| [[ISO 639:jpn|Japanese]] |
||
| [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] |
| [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] |
||
| {{N/A}} |
| {{N/A}} |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 125.3 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 0. |
| style=text-align:right | 0.1 million<ref>{{e25|jpn|Japanese}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 125.4 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:pcm|Nigerian Pidgin]] |
| [[ISO 639:pcm|Nigerian Pidgin]] |
||
| [[English-based creole languages|English Creole]] |
| [[English-based creole languages|English Creole]] |
||
| [[Krio language|Krio]] |
| [[Krio language|Krio]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 4.7 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 116 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 116.0 million<ref>{{e25|pcm|Nigerian Pidgin}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 120.7 million |
||
|- |
|||
|[[ISO 639:arz|Egyptian Arabic]]<br>(excl. [[Varieties of Arabic|other Arabic dialects]]) |
|||
|[[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
|||
|[[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 77 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 25 million<ref>{{e26|arz}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 102 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:mar|Marathi]] |
| [[ISO 639:mar|Marathi]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | 83 million |
| style=text-align:right | 83.1 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 16 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 16.0 million<ref>{{e25|mar|Marathi}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | 99 million |
| style=text-align:right | 99.1 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:tel|Telugu]] |
| [[ISO 639:tel|Telugu]] |
||
| [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] |
| [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] |
||
| South-Central |
| South-Central |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 82.7 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 13 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 13.0 million<ref>{{e25|tel|Telugu}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 95.7 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:tur|Turkish]] |
| [[ISO 639:tur|Turkish]] |
||
| [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] |
| [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] |
||
| [[Oghuz languages|Oghuz]] |
| [[Oghuz languages|Oghuz]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 82.2 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 5.9 million<ref>{{e25|tur|Turkish}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 88.1 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:tam|Tamil]] |
| [[ISO 639:tam|Tamil]] |
||
| [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] |
| [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] |
||
| Southern |
| Southern |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 78.4 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 8 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 8.0 million<ref>{{e25|tam|Tamil}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 86.4 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:yue| |
| [[ISO 639:yue|Cantonese]] |
||
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
||
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 85.2 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 0.4 million<ref>{{e25|yue|Chinese, Yue}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 85.6 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:vie|Vietnamese]] |
| [[ISO 639:vie|Vietnamese]] |
||
| [[Austroasiatic]] |
| [[Austroasiatic]] |
||
| [[Vietic languages|Vietic]] |
| [[Vietic languages|Vietic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 84.6 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 0.7 million<ref>{{e25|vie|Vietnamese}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 85.3 million |
||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:tgl|Tagalog]]{{efn|[[ISO 639:tgl|Tagalog]] and [[Filipino language|Filipino]] are defined as two different languages in the ISO 639 standard. ''[[Ethnologue]]'' considers that Filipino is a standardized variety of the Tagalog language with no speakers.}} |
|||
| [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] |
|||
| [[Central Philippine languages|Central Philippine]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 28.2 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 54.2 million<ref>{{e25|tgl|Tagalog}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 82.3 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:wuu|Wu Chinese]]<br>(incl. [[Shanghainese]]) |
| [[ISO 639:wuu|Wu Chinese]]<br>(incl. [[Shanghainese]]) |
||
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
||
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 81.7 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 0.1 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 0.1 million<ref>{{e25|wuu|Chinese, Wu}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 81.8 million |
||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:tgl|Tagalog]]{{efn|[[ISO 639:tgl|Tagalog]] and [[Filipino language|Filipino]] are defined as two different languages in the ISO 639 standard. ''[[Ethnologue]]'' considers that Filipino is a standardized variety of the Tagalog language with no speakers.}} |
|||
| [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] |
|||
| [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 29 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 54 million<ref>{{e26|tgl|Tagalog}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 83 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:kor|Korean]] |
| [[ISO 639:kor|Korean]] |
||
| [[Koreanic languages|Koreanic]] |
| [[Koreanic languages|Koreanic]] |
||
| {{N/A}} |
| {{N/A}} |
||
| {{N/A}} |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 82 million |
|||
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{ |
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{e25|kor}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 81.7 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:pes|Iranian Persian]]<br>(excl. [[ |
| [[ISO 639:pes|Iranian Persian]]<br>(excl. [[Dari]] and [[Tajik language|Tajik]]) |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] |
| [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 56.4 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 21 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 21.0 million<ref>{{e25|pes|Persian, Iranian}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 77.4 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:hau|Hausa]] |
| [[ISO 639:hau|Hausa]] |
||
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
||
| [[Chadic languages|Chadic]] |
| [[Chadic languages|Chadic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 50.8 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 26.3 million<ref>{{e25|hau|Hausa}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 77.1 million |
||
|- |
|||
|[[ISO 639:arz|Egyptian Spoken Arabic]]<br>(excl. [[Varieties of Arabic|other Arabic dialects]]) |
|||
|[[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
|||
|[[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
|||
| {{N/A}} |
|||
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{e25|arz}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 74.8 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:swh|Swahili]] |
| [[ISO 639:swh|Swahili]] |
||
| [[Niger-Congo languages|Niger–Congo]] |
| [[Niger-Congo languages|Niger–Congo]] |
||
| [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] |
| [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | 16 million |
| style=text-align:right | 16.1 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 55 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 55.4 million<ref>{{e25|swh|Swahili}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 71.4 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:jav|Javanese]] |
| [[ISO 639:jav|Javanese]] |
||
Line 231: | Line 233: | ||
| [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]] |
| [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]] |
||
| {{N/A}} |
| {{N/A}} |
||
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{ |
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{e25|jav}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | 68 million |
| style=text-align:right | 68.3 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:ita|Italian]] |
| [[ISO 639:ita|Italian]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Romance languages|Romance]] |
| [[Romance languages|Romance]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 64.8 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 3 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 3.1 million<ref>{{e25|ita|Italian}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 67.9 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:pnb|Western Punjabi]]<br>(excl. [[Eastern Punjabi language|Eastern Punjabi]]) |
| [[ISO 639:pnb|Western Punjabi]]<br>(excl. [[Eastern Punjabi language|Eastern Punjabi]]) |
||
Line 245: | Line 247: | ||
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
||
| {{N/A}} |
| {{N/A}} |
||
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{ |
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{e25|pnb|Western Punjabi}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 66.4 million |
||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:kan|Kannada]] |
|||
| [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] |
|||
| Southern |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 48.6 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 15.4 million<ref>{{e25|kan|Kannada}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 64.0 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:guj|Gujarati]] |
| [[ISO 639:guj|Gujarati]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | 57 million |
| style=text-align:right | 57.0 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 5 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 5.0 million<ref>{{e25|guj|Gujarati}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | 62 million |
| style=text-align:right | 62.0 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:tha|Thai]] |
| [[ISO 639:tha|Thai]] |
||
| [[Tai–Kadai languages|Kra–Dai]] |
| [[Tai–Kadai languages|Kra–Dai]] |
||
| [[Tai languages|Zhuang–Tai]] |
| [[Tai languages|Zhuang–Tai]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 20.7 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 40 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 40.0 million<ref>{{e25|tha|Thai}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 60.7 million |
||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:kan|Kannada]] |
|||
| [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] |
|||
| Southern |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 44 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 15 million<ref>{{e26|kan|Kannada}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 59 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:amh|Amharic]] |
| [[ISO 639:amh|Amharic]] |
||
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
||
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | 32 million |
| style=text-align:right | 32.4 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 25 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 25.1 million<ref>{{e25|amh}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 57.5 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:bho|Bhojpuri]] |
| [[ISO 639:bho|Bhojpuri]] |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | 52 million |
| style=text-align:right | 52.3 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 0.2 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 0.2 million<ref>{{e25|bho|Bhojpuri}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | 52 million |
| style=text-align:right | 52.5 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:pan|Eastern Punjabi]]<br>(excl. [[Punjabi language|Western Punjabi]]) |
| [[ISO 639:pan|Eastern Punjabi]]<br>(excl. [[Punjabi language|Western Punjabi]]) |
||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
||
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
| [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | 48 million |
| style=text-align:right | 48.1 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 3.6 million<ref>{{e25|pan}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 51.7 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:nan|Min Nan Chinese]]<br>(incl. [[Hokkien]]) |
| [[ISO 639:nan|Min Nan Chinese]]<br>(incl. [[Hokkien]]) |
||
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
||
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 49.3 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 0.4 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 0.4 million<ref>{{e25|nan|Chinese, Min Nan}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 49.7 million |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:cjy|Jin Chinese]] |
| [[ISO 639:cjy|Jin Chinese]] |
||
Line 301: | Line 303: | ||
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
||
| {{N/A}} |
| {{N/A}} |
||
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{ |
| {{N/A}}<br><ref>{{e25|cjy}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 47.1 million |
||
|- |
|||
|[[ISO 639:apc|Levantine Arabic]]<br>(excl. [[Varieties of Arabic|other Arabic dialects]]) |
|||
|[[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
|||
|[[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 47 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 0.4 million<ref>{{e26|arz}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 48 million |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[ISO 639:yor|Yoruba]] |
| [[ISO 639:yor|Yoruba]] |
||
| [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]] |
| [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]] |
||
| [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] |
| [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 43.6 million |
||
| style=text-align:right | 2 million<ref>{{ |
| style=text-align:right | 2.0 million<ref>{{e25|yor|Yoruba}}</ref> |
||
| style=text-align:right | |
| style=text-align:right | 45.6 million |
||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:hak|Hakka Chinese]] |
|||
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
|||
| [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 43.8 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 0.2 million<ref>{{e25|hak|Hakka Chinese}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 44.1 million |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:mya|Burmese]] |
|||
| [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] |
|||
| [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 33.0 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 10.0 million<ref>{{e25|mya|Burmese}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 43.0 million |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:apd|Sudanese Spoken Arabic]] |
|||
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
|||
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 33.3 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 9.0 million<ref>{{e25|apd|Sudanese Spoken Arabic}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 42.3 million |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:pol|Polish]] |
|||
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |
|||
| [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 40.0 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 0.7 million<ref>{{e25|pol|Polish}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 40.6 million |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:arq|Algerian Spoken Arabic]] |
|||
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] |
|||
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 34.7 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 5.6 million<ref>{{e25|apd|Sudanese Spoken Arabic}}</ref> |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 40.3 million |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[ISO 639:lin|Lingala]] |
|||
| [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]] |
|||
| [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 20.3 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 20.0 million |
|||
| style=text-align:right | 40.3 million |
|||
|} |
|} |
||
=== Major Languages Spoken by Population Proportion === |
|||
== ''CIA World Factbook'' (2022) == |
|||
The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) estimates the ten most-spoken languages ([[first language|L1]] + [[second language|L2]]) in 2022 as follow:<ref name=CIA/> |
|||
{| class="static-row-numbers sortable wikitable" |
{| class="static-row-numbers sortable wikitable" |
||
|+ Most |
|+ Most-spoken languages, CIA, 2022<ref name=CIA>{{cite web |title=Most spoken languages in the World |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/#people-and-society |website=[[The World Factbook]] |publisher=[[CIA]] |access-date=2022-01-01}}</ref> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! Language |
! Language |
||
Line 367: | Line 404: | ||
== References == |
== References == |
||
{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
||
== External links == |
|||
* {{Cite web |last=Ghosh |first=Iman |date=2020-02-15 |title=Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World |url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/100-most-spoken-languages/ |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=Visual Capitalist |language=en-US}} |
|||
{{Countries and languages lists}} |
{{Countries and languages lists}} |
Revision as of 20:20, 19 April 2024
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
This is a list of languages by total number of speakers.
It is difficult to define what constitutes a language as opposed to a dialect. For example, Chinese and Arabic are sometimes considered to be single languages, but each includes several mutually unintelligible varieties and so they are sometimes considered language families instead. Conversely, colloquial registers of Hindi and Urdu are almost completely mutually intelligible, and are sometimes classified as one language, Hindustani, instead of two separate languages. Such rankings should be used with caution, because it is not possible to devise a coherent set of linguistic criteria for distinguishing languages in a dialect continuum.[1]
There is no single criterion for how much knowledge is sufficient to be counted as a second-language speaker. For example, English has about 450 million native speakers but, depending on the criterion chosen, can be said to have as many as 2 billion speakers.[2]
There are also difficulties in obtaining reliable counts of speakers, which vary over time because of population change and language shift. In some areas, there is no reliable census data, the data is not current, or the census may not record languages spoken, or record them ambiguously. Sometimes speaker populations are exaggerated for political reasons, or speakers of minority languages may be under-reported in favor of a national language.[3]
Top languages by population
Ethnologue (2022, 25th edition)
The following languages are listed as having 40 million or more total speakers in the 2022 edition of Ethnologue.[4] Entries identified by Ethnologue as macrolanguages (such as Arabic, Persian, Malay, Pashto, Sindhi) are not included in this section.
Language | Family | Branch | First-language (L1) speakers |
Second-language (L2) speakers |
Total speakers (L1+L2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
English (excl. creole languages) |
Indo-European | Germanic | 372.9 million | 1.080 billion[5] | 1.452 billion |
Mandarin Chinese (incl. Standard Chinese, but excl. other varieties) |
Sino-Tibetan | Sinitic | 929.0 million | 198.7 million[6] | 1.118 billion |
Hindi (excl. Urdu, and other languages) |
Indo-European | Indo-Aryan | 343.9 million | 258.3 million[7] | 602.2 million |
Spanish | Indo-European | Romance | 474.7 million | 73.6 million[8] | 548.3 million |
French | Indo-European | Romance | 79.9 million | 194.2 million[9] | 274.1 million |
Modern Standard Arabic (excl. dialects) |
Afro-Asiatic | Semitic | 0[a] | 274.0 million[11] | 274.0 million |
Bengali | Indo-European | Indo-Aryan | 233.7 million | 39.0 million[12] | 272.7 million |
Russian | Indo-European | Balto-Slavic | 154.0 million | 104.1 million[13] | 258.2 million |
Portuguese | Indo-European | Romance | 232.4 million | 25.2 million [14] | 257.7 million |
Urdu (excl. Hindi) |
Indo-European | Indo-Aryan | 70.2 million | 161.0 million[15] | 231.3 million |
Indonesian (excl. Malay) |
Austronesian | Malayo-Polynesian | 43.6 million | 155.4 million[16] | 199.0 million |
Standard German | Indo-European | Germanic | 75.6 million | 59.1 million[17] | 134.6 million |
Japanese | Japonic | — | 125.3 million | 0.1 million[18] | 125.4 million |
Nigerian Pidgin | English Creole | Krio | 4.7 million | 116.0 million[19] | 120.7 million |
Marathi | Indo-European | Indo-Aryan | 83.1 million | 16.0 million[20] | 99.1 million |
Telugu | Dravidian | South-Central | 82.7 million | 13.0 million[21] | 95.7 million |
Turkish | Turkic | Oghuz | 82.2 million | 5.9 million[22] | 88.1 million |
Tamil | Dravidian | Southern | 78.4 million | 8.0 million[23] | 86.4 million |
Cantonese | Sino-Tibetan | Sinitic | 85.2 million | 0.4 million[24] | 85.6 million |
Vietnamese | Austroasiatic | Vietic | 84.6 million | 0.7 million[25] | 85.3 million |
Tagalog[b] | Austronesian | Central Philippine | 28.2 million | 54.2 million[26] | 82.3 million |
Wu Chinese (incl. Shanghainese) |
Sino-Tibetan | Sinitic | 81.7 million | 0.1 million[27] | 81.8 million |
Korean | Koreanic | — | — | — [28] |
81.7 million |
Iranian Persian (excl. Dari and Tajik) |
Indo-European | Iranian | 56.4 million | 21.0 million[29] | 77.4 million |
Hausa | Afro-Asiatic | Chadic | 50.8 million | 26.3 million[30] | 77.1 million |
Egyptian Spoken Arabic (excl. other Arabic dialects) |
Afro-Asiatic | Semitic | — | — [31] |
74.8 million |
Swahili | Niger–Congo | Bantu | 16.1 million | 55.4 million[32] | 71.4 million |
Javanese | Austronesian | Malayo-Polynesian | — | — [33] |
68.3 million |
Italian | Indo-European | Romance | 64.8 million | 3.1 million[34] | 67.9 million |
Western Punjabi (excl. Eastern Punjabi) |
Indo-European | Indo-Aryan | — | — [35] |
66.4 million |
Kannada | Dravidian | Southern | 48.6 million | 15.4 million[36] | 64.0 million |
Gujarati | Indo-European | Indo-Aryan | 57.0 million | 5.0 million[37] | 62.0 million |
Thai | Kra–Dai | Zhuang–Tai | 20.7 million | 40.0 million[38] | 60.7 million |
Amharic | Afro-Asiatic | Semitic | 32.4 million | 25.1 million[39] | 57.5 million |
Bhojpuri | Indo-European | Indo-Aryan | 52.3 million | 0.2 million[40] | 52.5 million |
Eastern Punjabi (excl. Western Punjabi) |
Indo-European | Indo-Aryan | 48.1 million | 3.6 million[41] | 51.7 million |
Min Nan Chinese (incl. Hokkien) |
Sino-Tibetan | Sinitic | 49.3 million | 0.4 million[42] | 49.7 million |
Jin Chinese | Sino-Tibetan | Sinitic | — | — [43] |
47.1 million |
Yoruba | Niger–Congo | Atlantic–Congo | 43.6 million | 2.0 million[44] | 45.6 million |
Hakka Chinese | Sino-Tibetan | Sinitic | 43.8 million | 0.2 million[45] | 44.1 million |
Burmese | Sino-Tibetan | Tibeto-Burman | 33.0 million | 10.0 million[46] | 43.0 million |
Sudanese Spoken Arabic | Afro-Asiatic | Semitic | 33.3 million | 9.0 million[47] | 42.3 million |
Polish | Indo-European | Balto-Slavic | 40.0 million | 0.7 million[48] | 40.6 million |
Algerian Spoken Arabic | Afro-Asiatic | Semitic | 34.7 million | 5.6 million[49] | 40.3 million |
Lingala | Niger–Congo | Atlantic–Congo | 20.3 million | 20.0 million | 40.3 million |
Major Languages Spoken by Population Proportion
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates the ten most-spoken languages (L1 + L2) in 2022 as follow:[50]
Language | Percentage of world population (2022) |
---|---|
English | 18.8% |
Mandarin Chinese | 13.8% |
Hindi | 7.5% |
Spanish | 6.9% |
French | 3.4% |
Arabic | 3.4% |
Bengali | 3.4% |
Russian | 3.2% |
Portuguese | 3.2% |
Urdu | 2.9% |
See also
- Lingua franca
- Lists of languages
- List of languages by number of native speakers
- List of languages by the number of countries in which they are recognized as an official language
- Number of languages by country
- World language
- Languages used on the Internet
- Extinct language
- Official languages of the United Nations
Notes
- ^ Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is not an L1. Arabic speakers first learn their respective local dialect. MSA is acquired through formal education.[10]
- ^ Tagalog and Filipino are defined as two different languages in the ISO 639 standard. Ethnologue considers that Filipino is a standardized variety of the Tagalog language with no speakers.
References
- ^ Paolillo, John C.; Das, Anupam (31 March 2006). "Evaluating language statistics: the Ethnologue and beyond" (PDF). UNESCO Institute of Statistics. pp. 3–5. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ Crystal, David (March 2008). "Two thousand million?". English Today. 24: 3–6. doi:10.1017/S0266078408000023. S2CID 145597019.
- ^ Crystal, David (1988). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 286–287. ISBN 978-0-521-26438-9.
- ^ "What are the top 200 most spoken languages?". Ethnologue. 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
- ^ English at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Chinese, Mandarin at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Hindi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Spanish at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ French at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ List of languages by total number of speakers at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ List of languages by total number of speakers at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Bengali at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Russian at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Portuguese at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Urdu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Indonesian at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ German, Standard at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Japanese at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Nigerian Pidgin at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Marathi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Telugu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Turkish at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Tamil at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Chinese, Yue at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Vietnamese at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Tagalog at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Chinese, Wu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ List of languages by total number of speakers at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Persian, Iranian at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Hausa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ List of languages by total number of speakers at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Swahili at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ List of languages by total number of speakers at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Italian at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Western Punjabi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Kannada at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Gujarati at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Thai at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ List of languages by total number of speakers at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Bhojpuri at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ List of languages by total number of speakers at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Chinese, Min Nan at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ List of languages by total number of speakers at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Yoruba at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Hakka Chinese at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Burmese at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Sudanese Spoken Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Polish at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Sudanese Spoken Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ a b "Most spoken languages in the World". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
External links
- Ghosh, Iman (2020-02-15). "Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World". Visual Capitalist. Retrieved 2022-03-05.